Adam McKay says Don’t Look Up being watched by 400 million shows viewers know they’re ‘being lied to’
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The filmmaker says viewers ‘all really connected with the idea of being gaslit’. Adam McKay has said his 2021 satirical comedy Don’t Look Up was watched by between 400 million and half a billion people on Netflix, which shows that viewers know when they’re being “gaslit,” adding that the Los Angeles wildfires serve as a reminder of the film’s message.
In a new interview, the climate activist and filmmaker was discussing the wildfires blazing through Los Angeles and the effect of the climate crisis on disasters. “We’re heartbroken. Afraid. Sad,” he told NME about the fires that have killed at least 27 people.
“Some people are blaming power lines or arsonists [for the fires], but I know plenty that are now realising the climate breakdown we’re all in globally is here – happening right now. I’ve heard that from friends: they say, ‘I thought we had more time’. The answer is: ‘We don’t – it’s here now’.”.
Speaking about the continuing impact of his 2021 film, Don’t Look Up, still the second most-watched film on Netflix, McKay said he focused on the audience response to the film, instead of critics’. “In the face of these dramatic catastrophes that keep happening, a movie seems really small and ridiculous. But what was inspiring and energising was the popular response to that movie, not the critics and the cultural gatekeepers who hated it. It ended up being number one in something like 85 countries, as diverse as Pakistan, Vietnam, US and Uruguay.